The present disclosure relates generally to an auxiliary ammunition carrier for use with a firearm, and more particularly, pertains to a shotgun shell mounting device for releasably retaining a single shotgun shell in a convenient position on an external surface of the shotgun.
It is well known that it is often desirable or necessary to have an extra shell available for rapid loading of a shotgun when the internal supply of ammunition within the gun has been depleted. In an effort to provide a readily accessible ammunition supply to a shooter in the field, many devices exist which allow the user to carry numerous rounds of ammunition away from the shotgun. For example, several different types of ammunition carrying belts, harnesses, straps, pouches, packs and other personal storage devices exist which are well known in the art. Unfortunately, all of these devices have a common problem. They are all directed to carrying ammunition on the shooter's person.
In order to access ammunition from bodily carried storage containers, the shooter must take one or both of his or her hands away from his or her weapon in order to grasp the individual rounds and then bring his or her hands back to the weapon in order to chamber the round. While such action is not especially difficult, it results in a lowering of the shotgun and make take several critical seconds causing the shooter to lose sight of the target thus making the availability of additional rounds of ammunition moot.
To overcome the shortcomings of bodily carried storage containers, various shotgun shell holders have been developed which, by means of conventional fasteners, are attached and detached from stocks, forends, and other external portions of the shotgun in an attempt to quickly supply an additional round to the shotgun without reducing the readiness of the shotgun.
There remains a need for an individual shotgun shell holder which may be readily attached and detached externally of a shotgun, and preferably outside the receiver thereof, so as to permit quick and easy reloading of the shotgun. There is an additional need for a single shotgun shell holder which, in use, does not interfere with the normal operation of the shotgun. Further, there is a need for a single shotgun shell holder which can be adjustably positioned externally of the shotgun, and which effectively retains a shotgun shell therein to prevent an accidental loss of reserve ammunition.